Cross-Examination

• Biden hosts Zelensky, calls on Congress for $61 billion more: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has a tough task before him. The American people are largely sympathetic toward his country’s ongoing war with Russia, but they’re largely sick of funding it. And they’re especially sick of funding Ukraine’s teachers and professors. The $61 billion Joe Biden wants to give Zelensky is part of a $110 billion package that would include aid to Israel as well as funding for securing our southern border, and it would come on top of the $111 billion that Congress already committed in January — money which Team Biden says has nearly run out. Frustration abounds. As Florida Republican Congressman and former Green Beret Michael Waltz trenchantly observes, “Biden has essentially slow-walked us, back-peddled us, incrementally provided Zelensky just enough to keep from losing but not enough to help him win.” He adds, “How can we in good conscience go home to our constituents, tell them that they need to dig deeper in their pockets for tens of billions of dollars more, when we have no strategy, we’re stuck in a stalemate … and our own border is out of control.” Increasingly, the effort to push Vladimir Putin completely out of Ukraine seems an exercise in futility. Asked whether he thinks Ukraine can still prevail, Waltz was candid: “I do not, from what I’ve seen, believe it’s possible to take every inch of Ukrainian territory back.” Congress is scrambling to get something done before its members head home for the holidays, which makes this a fiscally perilous time for the American people.

• Hatchet Jack’s gambit: We’ll say this about Donald Trump’s special persecutor Jack Smith: He’s as zealous and unscrupulous as they come. Recently, we learned that his investigators have captured and mined Trump’s cellphone data from January 6. And now we learn that he’s pressing the Supreme Court to decide once and for all if Trump can be prosecuted on charges that he tried to overturn the 2020 election. And Smith wants the Court to decide quickly because he’s got a case to win — a case that’s set to begin in early March, right around Super Tuesday, a case he wants to win before the presidential election in November. Thus, Smith is trying to nullify the appeals process that a defendant would normally have at his disposal by doing an immediate end-run around it. So whereas the longstanding practice of the Department of Justice is to avoid meddling in politics and political campaigns, Smith is intent on doing just the opposite. It’s yet another bizarre tactic from a guy whose methods have already been repudiated unanimously by the Supreme Court. As Smith’s office said in a statement, “It is of imperative public importance that respondent’s claims of immunity be resolved by this Court and that respondent’s trial proceed as promptly as possible if his claim of immunity is rejected.” The high court has agreed to expedite the matter, and it ordered Trump’s lawyers to respond to Smith’s filing by December 20. “There is absolutely no reason to rush this sham to trial except to injure President Trump and tens of millions of his supporters,” Trump’s team replied. “President Trump will continue to fight for Justice and oppose these authoritarian tactics.”

• Trump confounds the “experts” in Iowa: The deeper into campaign season we get, the more Donald Trump’s candidacy continues to defy The Conventional Wisdom. Remember when all those experts said Trump’s lead would shrink as soon as the also-rans left the crowded field and allowed the non-Trump vote to coalesce? Mmmkay. In a new Des Moines Register poll, Trumps leads the field with an outright majority of 51% of first-choice votes, while Ron DeSantis is second at 19%, with Nikki Haley third at 16%. It’s the largest Republican lead in caucus history. “The field may have shrunk, but it may have made Donald Trump even stronger than he was,” said pollster J. Ann Selzer, president of Selzer & Co., which conducted the Iowa poll. And then, with a flourish of understatement, Selzer offered this: “I would call his lead commanding at this point.” In addition, Trump is now viewed favorably by 72% of likely caucus-goers, while DeSantis is at 66% and Haley at 59%. Folks holding onto a glimmer of hope for either DeSantis or Haley might want to consider some of the other underlying numbers: Trump leads DeSantis and Haley 51-26-12 with evangelicals, and this despite DeSantis picking up recent endorsements from a highly influential social conservative, Bob Vander Plaats, and the state’s Republican governor, Kim Reynolds. Finally, of the 51% committed to Trump, only 30% say they’re open to changing their vote. On the other hand, of the 19% favoring DeSantis, 70% are open to changing their vote, as are 65% of the 16% who favor Haley. So not only is Trump’s support in Iowa overwhelming — it’s also largely locked in.

• Obama takes heat over new Netflix film: The latest film from Netflix that was produced by Barack and Michelle Obama’s production company Higher Ground is being accused of promoting anti-white racism. “Leave the World Behind” is described as an apocalyptic thriller featuring a star-studded cast. The film’s creator, Sam Esmail, credited Barack Obama with being heavily involved in consultation for the script. But that’s where the controversy arises, as there is a scene in the film where a black couple lie in bed discussing the potential collapse of society and one says, “I’m asking you to remember that if the world falls apart, trust should not be doled out easily to anyone, especially white people.” Libs of TikTok said the scene was “demonizing white people.” Conservative commentator Matt Walsh wryly noted, “This racist clip from Barack & Michelle Obama’s first fiction film on Netflix called: ‘Leave The World Behind’ is about to go viral!”

• Air Force leak discipline: Earlier this year the Pentagon reported the leaking of a trove of “sensitive and highly classified materials” by a member of the U.S. military. The leaker was quickly identified as 21-year-old Jack Teixeira, a member of the Massachusetts Air National Guard. Teixeira leaked the highly classified material via the online platform Discord. Teixeira pleaded not guilty and is currently awaiting trial. That said, the Air Force has now disciplined 15 Airmen in connection with the incident over their failure to take the proper action when alerted to the leak. All 15 have been removed from their command positions and have received non-judicial administrative punishments. Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall explained: “Every Airman … is entrusted with the solemn duty to safeguard our nation’s classified defense information. When there is a breach of that sacred trust, for any reason, we will act in accordance with our laws and policies to hold responsible individuals accountable.”

• LA arrests a suspected serial killer: Police in Los Angeles recently arrested 33-year-old Jerrid Powell for the murder of three homeless people last week and a man in his house during a home invasion. It turns out that Powell had recently received a $700,000 settlement from the City of Santa Monica for injuries he suffered after being run over by a beach patrol officer responding to a fire back in 2019. It appears that Powell used part of that settlement money to illegally purchase a firearm (he had a prior felony conviction that precluded him from legally owning or purchasing a gun) and a car that was used in the killings.

• Rachel Zegler’s sorta mea culpa: With Disney reeling from recent box-office flops, the House of Mouse can ill afford the continuing bad press surrounding its live-action remake of its timeless classic “Snow White and the Seven Dwarves.” Indeed, much of the bad press is thanks to comments from Rachel Zegler, the woke actress Disney chose to play the lead character of Snow White. Zegler infamously dismissed the original 1937 movie, throwing it under the proverbial bus. “She’s not going to be saved by a prince!” she said of her modern Snow White. “And she’s not gonna be dreaming about true love. [Rather] she’ll be dreaming about becoming a leader she knows she can be.” Now, Zegler is singing a different tune. In a recent Variety interview, she called the original Snow White “a monumental moment in film history.” In fact, she gushed, “The reason that you and I get to sit here today [is] because it made Disney what it is.”

Headlines

• Harvard confirms Claudine Gay will remain prez — despite reported $1 billion loss over anti-Semitism scandal (New York Post)

• Ex-SNL star pulled out of widely panned skit on anti-Semitism hearing (Daily Wire)

• VP Harris’s husband botches Hanukkah story on social media during celebration of major Jewish holiday (Fox News)

• House GOP leadership pulls both FISA bills following backlash (Just the News)

• Hunter Biden lawyers urge Delaware judge to dismiss gun charges (National Review)

• Hillary Clinton to take larger role in Biden’s reelection campaign — and even Democrats are laughing (Daily Wire)

• Feds sent nearly $2 billion to Planned Parenthood and other pro-abortion groups (Daily Wire)

• One in four who had mRNA COVID jabs experienced unintended immune response (The Telegraph)

• The media sure seems awfully excited about promoting an obscure, neo-Marxist “alternative to the Girl Scouts” (Not the Bee)

• Tucker Carlson blasts corporate media lies, launches new video subscription service as alternative (Daily Signal)

• Satire: DOJ indicts Hunter Biden for not giving any of his millions in bribes to the government (Genesius Times)

For more editors’ choice headlines, click here.